1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stringed musical instruments.
More particularly, the present invention relates to stringed musical instruments which have a hollow body portion.
In a further and more specific aspect, the present invention relates to the aforementioned instruments fabricated utilizing melamine impregnated resins impressed over phenolic craft layers.
2. Prior Art
Traditionally, hollow bodied stringed instruments, such as traditional acoustic guitars, are made almost entirely of wood. At the present time, string instruments with quality sound characteristics are still constructed substantially of wood.
While exceptional in beauty and sound quality, wood instruments tend to be quite expensive, and generally fragile. Instruments constructed of wood are inherently vulnerable to the elements, particularly humidity, moisture and heat. The curing, selection and storage cf choice woods to be used in musical instruments are considerations which contribute to the generally high cost of quality sounding instruments. The thin wooden panels prove generally unforgiving of mistreatment and an inadvertent blow may result in a permanently impaired instrument. There have been many attempts at overcoming the problems presented by wood instruments. Molded plastic instruments have been developed in an attempt to reduce costs and increase durability of instruments traditionally constructed of wood. Instruments constructed of molded plastic tend to be inexpensive to produce in bulk and are difficult to damage due to the strength and resiliency of plastic. However, instruments made of molded plastic typically do not display the acoustical qualities of a wooden instrument. Further, molded plastic instruments lend themselves best to mass production techniques of unchanging design because of the cost involved in preparation of new molds.
Finally, some effort has been directed towards instruments employing acoustic panels formed by a complex layering of materials. Exemplary is the use of oriented graphite fiber material embedded in a resin matrix, and the use of woven polymers. Significant design effort can be expended in the course of producing engineer developed acoustic panels. The cost of such effort is reflected significantly in the sales price of such instruments. These instruments attempt to provide an instrument with acoustics comparable to traditional wooden instruments, while being constructed of material better able to withstand adverse environments.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved low cost stringed instrument of high acoustic quality.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stringed instrument having a hollow body portion utilizing little or no wooden parts.
And another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a relatively inexpensive stringed instrument of quality sound output.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a stringed instrument, the shape of which instrument is not limited by static molding techniques.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hollow bodied stringed instrument comprised of elements made of melamine impregnated resins impressed over phenolic craft layers.